3 reasons why Jinder Mahal must not regain the WWE Championship
Purportedly as part of an effort to make Survivor Series better, Vince McMahon finally pulled the plug on Jinder Mahal's WWE Championship reign and placed the title on AJ Styles during this week's SmackDown, to the delight of the Manchester crowd in attendance. This sets up a dream match with Brock Lesnar that could be great depending on if "The Beast Incarnate" is motivated.
But after Survivor Series, the euphoria is likely to end. WWE embarks on a tour of India in December and Jinder Mahal was always scheduled to be one of its headliners. He's also purportedly being advertised there as a two-time WWE Champion. So chances are, Jinder Mahal will win the title back shortly after Survivor Series.
Though I might be fighting against the tide in saying this, Jinder Mahal should absolutely not get a second reign. Here are the reasons why.
# Network subscriptions in India haven't increased
Jinder's title reign came primarily as part of an effort to increase WWE's presence in India. Yet in Q2, Network subscriptions only grew by 0.3% internationally, showing at best, no big effect for Jinder Mahal in India. Numbers declined from Q2 to Q3 (but are up year over year). There are even indications that Network subscriptions are down in India during his reign. And even though there are big TV distribution deals in India on the way, they won't come until 2019, and Jinder Mahal likely has nothing to do with them.
In other words, the anticipated gains for Jinder Mahal's push have failed to materialize. It hasn't been a short experiment either, at least by modern standards. Jinder Mahal's reign was the fourth longest of the 2010's, behind CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and Seth Rollins.
If the purported gains had materialized, perhaps the price would be worth it, but after 170 days, there was no evidence of this happening. Without it, the price has been far too steep, which brings us to the next point.